Confined Thoughts [Media Meditation 2]

I have taken several media related courses at Champlain in the past three years. For most of them I have kept a blog and have written about my favorite blog, PostSecret. Apparently, this blog won't be any different because PostSecret continues to amaze me every Sunday.

First, I will recap what PostSecret is for those of you who don't know.

PostSecret, according to Frank Warren, the creator, is "an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard." Each week Frank picks around 20 secrets that he posts on the blog.

Here is a YouTube video project that PostSecret created in December, 2009.



I encourage you to visit the blog and check it out for yourself to get a better idea of the concept, as well as the website, and the Twitter account.

In the past, I have focused on the blog as a whole. This time I want to talk about one specific secret. It relates directly to media issues. I have been thinking about it for two days.

This is the secret I found this week:



The secret relates to the social media tool, Twitter, which restricts updates to 140 characters. Twitter forces people to start using short hand, for example "ppl" for the word "people." It is confining our thoughts and condensing our written language.

It is easy use the Action Coalition For Media Education power tools to break down videos. I often forget that these power tools can break down any medium. That's why I chose to critically think about this one specific secret, and apply the power tools to it.

The Brain:
The neocortex is engaged. You have to read the secret, and in this case, I continued to use my neocortex to think about the secret, and how it applies to life in the 21st century.

Eight Shifts:
This secret is part of a technological shift. It was sent into Frank Warren, and then he scanned and uploaded the secret to the Internet blog.

It is also a personal shift. This is a personal secret of a person who then chose to anonymously share it with the world. Who ever wrote it is now participating in the PostSecret community.

Seven Principles:
"Reality" Construction/Trade-offs is definitely used with this secret. The secret says "I think I'm starting to constantly think in 140 characters." It appears on a screen shot from a Twitter update. The content of the secret is bringing up the goods and the bads of our media world. Twitter is an excellent social media tool; however, it has it's trade offs. One of them is the condensing of thoughts because of the limitations of the characters. Is this a bad thing? Is it a good thing? Is it changing the way our society is thinking and communicating? It brings up the "reality" of communication with social media.

Persuasive Techniques:
The person who sent in this secret probably wasn't thinking about persuasive techniques when they submitted their secret.

The secret can partially be considered as hyperbole. Does this person really think that eventually their thoughts will be completely in 140 characters?

They also used symbols while creating the secret. They use the identifiable Twitter forum for submitting a tweet.

Each week PostSecret makes me really think about life, and my own secrets. I've never submitted one, but each week I think about if I were to, what would it say? The secret saying, "I think I'm starting to constantly think in 140 characters" makes me think about my own fears of the media and how it will shape my future along with society. I wonder if one day all of our electronic communications will have a limitation. Language and expression is a key aspect to our interaction with others. What would happen if it were to completely change? How would it limit our means of communication? How would it change our lives? Has it already?

Bieber Fever [Media Meditation 1]

Teen pop star, Justin Bieber, seems to be appearing everywhere lately. There has even been a movie released about him called Never Say Never. I think the teenager is a talented musician and is part of a technological music revolution. The sixteen year old was discovered on YouTube in 2008. Two years later, he has the most viewed YouTube video of all time with his song "Baby" featuring Ludacris. I'm a little confused as to why Justin Bieber doesn't simply get his own special on E! True Hollywood Stories, but I can see how there is a huge market for this movie. His marketing team has outdone themselves with this one. The promotion of the movie has been plastered everywhere. I think everyone and their grandmothers know about the Bieber Fever going around.

One advertisement I found particularly interesting features reality star from MTV's Jersey Shore, Pauly D. The marketing team reaches out to a market a little older than the 10 year old screaming girls that will be dragging their parents to the movie. They caught the high school and college audience with this television commercial. I think it's simply brilliant. Take a look at it:



The Brain:
The video first hits the oldest part of the brain, the reptilian brain. This brain is the instinctual brain. The video uses this power tool in the very beginning of the commercial when it shows Pauly D. in dark lighting sitting on a chair. Viewers don't know what to make of the commercial at first, because it's not very clear what's about to go on.

Eight Shifts:
The commercial is a demonstration of an aesthetic shift because I originally found it on YouTube. It is a convergence of media. Before YouTube and the Internet, we would only be able to see this commercial when it came on TV. Now, we can watch it over and over on the Internet, providing us the ability to embed the video onto another medium to further share.

Seven Basic Principles:
The commercial definitely capitalizes on production techniques. The lighting of the commercial makes it a little spooky, which connects back to the reptilian brain. It sets a serious tone for the commercial, and for Pauly D's message. The lights then brighten when Justin Bieber walks in the room, and the whole mood changes.

Another part of the production techniques there are used in the commercial are camera angles and movement. The camera angles are pretty simple. They are either directly in front of Pauly D., or they are getting a profile shot of him. The shots have smooth transitions.

Persuasive Techniques:
Commercials are always loaded with persuasive techniques. After all, the point of a commercial is to persuade a consumer to do, buy, or think about something. This commercial is no different. I think that the persuasive techniques used in this video make it appealing, and an overall excellent commercial.

One persuasive technique that is used is testimonial. It uses Jersey Shore's Pauly D. This shows that Pauly D. supports Justin Bieber and his movie. This can lead to the persuasive technique bandwagon. Everyone is seeing it, even Pauly D.

Humor was also a technique strongly used in this commercial. Pauly D. is known for his "Guido" look with his hair gelled up like the picture below. In the video he is almost not recognizable in the beginning of the video because he has his hair down flat. He says, "my hair won't even stand up anymore." Another joke he uses is, "I can't stop buying purple pants."



Another strong persuasive technique used in the commercial is simple solutions. Pauly D's hair won't stand up anymore and he can't stop buying purple pants because he has the Bieber Fever. The solution? See the movie. He even states "I gotta see that movie."

Overall, the commercial did it's job. It captivated my attention, I remembered the advertisement, and I have shared it through my blog for my followers to see. The only thing left that the advertisement wants me to do is go see the movie,"Never Say Never." Will I do it? The marketing team sure hopes so.

Script 1: Feed in 60 Seconds

Feed The Need Productions


Nick: Tonight’s going to be meg brag.
Heather: Yeah, I can’t wait to go to Mars and get weasel-faced at Rumble Spot.
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Heather: Well, see ya later, unit. Maybe if you had the feed you would’ve known the plans.
Randy: I really need to get the feed…

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